Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 2, 1882
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
Bible Sanctification.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THE CHARACTER OF JOHN.
THE apostle John was distinguished above his brethren as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." While not in the slightest degree cowardly, weak, or vacillating in character, he possessed an amiable disposition, and a warm, loving heart. He seems to have enjoyed in a pre-eminent sense, the friendship of Christ, and he received many tokens of the Saviour's confidence and love. He was one of the three permitted to witness Christ's glory upon the mount of transfiguration, and his agony in Gethsemane; and to the care of John our Lord confided his mother in those last hours of anguish upon the cross.
The Saviour's affection for the beloved disciple was returned with all the strength of ardent devotion. John clung to Christ as the vine clings to the stately pillar. For his Master's sake he braved the dangers of the judgment hall, and lingered about the cross; and at the tidings that Christ had risen, he hastened to the sepulcher, in his zeal outstripping even the impetuous Peter.
John's love for his Master was not a mere human friendship; but it was the love of a repentant sinner, who felt that he had been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. He esteemed it the highest honor to work and suffer in the service of his Lord. His love for Jesus led him to love all for whom Christ died. His religion was of a practical character. He reasoned that love to God would be manifested in love to his children. He was heard again and again to say, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." "We love him because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?" The apostle's life was in harmony with his teachings. The love which glowed in his heart for Christ, led him to put forth the most earnest, untiring labor for his fellow-men, especially for his brethren in the Christian church. He was a powerful preacher, fervent, and deeply in earnest, and his words carried with them a weight of conviction.
The confiding love and unselfish devotion manifested in the life and character of John, present lessons of untold value to the Christian church. Some may represent him as possessing this love independent of divine grace; but John had, by nature, serious defects of character; he was proud and ambitious, and quick to resent slight and injury.
The depth and fervor of John's affection for his Master was not the cause of Christ's love for him, but the effect of that love. John desired to become like Jesus, and under the transforming influence of the love of Christ, he became meek and lowly of heart. Self was hid in Jesus. He was closely united to the Living Vine, and thus became a partaker of the divine nature. Such will ever be the result of communion with Christ. This is true sanctification.
There may be marked defects in the character of an individual, yet when he becomes a true disciple of Jesus, the power of divine grace makes him a new creature. Christ's love transforms, sanctifies him. But when persons profess to be Christians, and their religion does not make them better men and better women in all the relations of life,—living representatives of Christ in disposition and character,—they are none of his.
At one time, John engaged in a dispute with several of his brethren, as to which of their number should be accounted greatest. They did not intend their words to reach the ear of the Master; but Jesus read their hearts, and embraced the opportunity to give his disciples a lesson of humility. It was not only for the little group who listened to his words, but was to be recorded for the benefit of all his followers, to the close of time. "And he sat down, and called the twelve, and said unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all."
Those who possess the spirit of Christ will have no ambition to occupy a position above their brethren. It is those who are small in their own eyes who will be accounted great in the sight of God. "And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them; and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me; and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but Him that sent me."
What a precious lesson is this for all the followers of Christ! Those who overlook the life-duties lying directly in their pathway, who neglect mercy and kindness, courtesy and love, to even a little child, are neglecting Christ. John felt the force of this lesson, and profited by it.
On another occasion, his brother James and himself had seen a man casting out devils in the name of Jesus, and because he did not immediately connect himself with their company, they decided that he had no right to do this work, and consequently forbade him. In the sincerity of his heart, John related the circumstances to his Master. Jesus said, "Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part."
Again, James and John presented by their mother a petition requesting that they might be permitted to occupy the highest positions of honor in Christ's kingdom. The Saviour answered, "Ye know not what ye ask." How little do many of us understand the true import of our prayers! Jesus knew the infinite sacrifice at which that glory must be purchased, when he, "for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame." That joy was to see souls saved by his humiliation, his agony, and the shedding of his blood.
This was the glory which Christ was to receive, and which these two disciples had requested that they might be permitted to share. Jesus asked them, "Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can."
How little did they comprehend what that baptism signified! "Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared."
Jesus understood the motives which prompted the request, and thus reproved the pride and ambition of the two disciples: "They which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles, exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you; but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister; and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Upon one occasion Christ sent messengers before him into a village of the Samaritans, requesting the people to prepare refreshments for himself and his disciples. But when the Saviour approached the town, he appeared to be passing on toward Jerusalem. This aroused the enmity of the Samaritans, and instead of sending messengers to invite and even urge him to tarry with them, they withheld the courtesies which they would have given to a common wayfarer. Jesus never urges his presence upon any, and the Samaritans lost the blessing which would have been granted them, had they solicited him to be their guest.
We may wonder at this uncourteous treatment of the Majesty of Heaven; but how frequently are we who profess to be the followers of Christ, guilty of similar neglect. Do we urge Jesus to take up his abode in our hearts and in our homes? He is full of love, of grace, of blessing, and stands ready to bestow these gifts upon us; but, like the Samaritans, we are often content without them.
The disciples were aware of the purpose of Christ to bless the Samaritans with his presence; and when they saw the coldness, jealousy, and disrespect shown to their Master, they were filled with surprise and indignation. James and John were especially stirred. That he whom they so highly reverenced should be thus treated, seemed to them a crime too great to be passed over without immediate punishment. In their zeal they said, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from Heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?" referring to the destruction of the captains and their companies sent out to take the prophet Elijah.
Jesus rebuked his disciples, saying, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of; for the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." John and his fellow-disciples were in a school, in which Christ was teacher. Those who were ready to see their own defects, and were anxious to improve in character, had ample opportunity. John treasured every lesson, and constantly sought to bring his life into harmony with the Divine Pattern. The lessons of Jesus, setting forth meekness, humility, and love as essential to growth in grace, and a fitness for his work, were of the highest value to John. These lessons are addressed to us as individuals and as brethren in the church, as well as to the first disciples of Christ.482An instructive lesson may be drawn from the striking contrast between the character of John and that of Judas. John was a living illustration of sanctification. On the other hand, Judas possessed a form of godliness, while his character was more Satanic than divine. He professed to be a disciple of Christ, but in words and in works denied him.
Judas had the same precious opportunities as had John to study and to imitate the Pattern. He listened to the lessons of Christ, and his character might have been transformed by divine grace. But while John was earnestly warring against his own faults, and seeking to assimilate to Christ, Judas was violating his conscience, yielding to temptation, and fastening upon himself habits of dishonesty that would transform him into the image of Satan.
These two disciples represent the Christian world. All profess to be Christ's followers; but while one class walk in humility and meekness, learning of Jesus, the other show that they are not doers of the word, but hearers only. One class are sanctified through the truth; the other know nothing of the transforming power of divine grace. The former are daily dying to self, and are overcoming sin. The latter are indulging their own lusts, and becoming the servants of Satan.
TRUST IN GOD.
LEAVE God to order all thy ways,
And hope in him whate'er betide;
Thou'lt find him in the evil days
An all-sufficient strength and guide.
Who trusts in God's unchanging love,
Builds on a rock that naught can move.
What can these anxious cares avail,
These never ceasing moans and sighs?
What can it help us to bewail
Each painful moment as it flies?
Our cross and trial do but press
The heavier for our bitterness.
Only your restless heart keep still,
And wait in cheerful hope, content
To take whate'er His gracious will,
His all discerning love has sent;
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.
He knows when joyful hours are best,
He sends them as he sees it meet;
When thou hast borne its fiery test,
And now art freed from all deceit,
He comes to thee, all unaware,
And makes thee own His loving care.
Nor in the heat of pain and strife
Think God hath cast thee off unheard,
Nor that the man whose prosperous life
Thou enviest, is of him preferred;
Time passes, and much change doth bring,
And sets a bound to everything.
Sing, pray, and swerve not from his way,
But do thine own part faithfully;
Trust his rich promises of grace,
So shall it be fulfilled in thee;
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted him indeed.
Signs of the Near Coming of Christ.
By Dr. G. W. Weldon
DR. G. W. WELDON, Vicar of St. Saviour's, Chelsea, England, says:—
Prophecy fulfilled is the history of the past; unfulfilled, it is the history of the future. Each accomplishment of any one predicted event, is not only a guarantee for the accomplishment of future ones, but affords cumulative evidence of the truth of our Christian faith. A candid, humble, prayerful examination of prophecy, shows to us one of the most exalted and delightful views of the divine economy in the history of the world. When we think of God looking through the mists of countless ages, beholding generations yet unborn, depicting, as in a photograph, not only their actions, but their very words and thoughts, and making the conflicting plans and jarring passions of perverse human hearts fulfill to the letter the minutest details of his almighty will, we have a wonderful and magnificent illustration that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and is Governor among the nations.
The most casual observer of events now transpiring in the world must be constrained to admit that we are living in an age of rapid transition. Events develop themselves now in a single year, which, a century ago, would not have appeared in twenty years. Just exactly as a stone rolling down the mountain-side increases in its velocity in proportion as it approaches the termination of its course, so, as each succeeding year glides on toward the consummation of our hopes in the coming of Christ, events develop themselves with increasing interest and progressive speed. And, therefore, as we look around us now in the present age, and take up our Bibles, and read of certain signs which are to transpire in the last days; if we can find such signs actually in existence around us, we are warranted in saying that we are in the last days, and are approaching the advent of our long-expected and absent Lord.
St. Paul says, in his epistle to Timothy, “In the last days perilous times shall come,” and then he gives some of those signs. And Peter says: “In the last days scoffers shall come.” Now our modern skeptics and scoffers are not coarse, but educated mockers—men of science—of whom it may be said, They have everything, except God in spirit and in truth. Many of them apparently possess amiability, kindliness of disposition, and gentleness of heart; and these very qualities in themselves tend to rivet the intellect, and fascinate the hearts of the youthful, and to make them think that this pretended science, so called, is going to displace the word of God, and to usher in an era of something better and more attractive. St. Peter tells us that such scoffers shall be willingly ignorant of the way in which God made the world. Now one of these modern scoffers, a noted physiologist, speaking of the Bible, and the account it gives of the creation of the world in Genesis, says: “These accounts of the creation of the world are fossil forms of thought, and, after a time, they will take their place as the fossils in the history of our geological strata.” Another noted scientific man in the department of chemistry denies altogether the efficacy of prayer. He says that prayer never painted a flower or photographed a sunbeam; and he calls the Mosaic record of creation “the beautiful myths of the Bible.” Another conspicuous modern writer of this school calls the Bible a fairy tale.
Now, here are three representatives of the world's modern philosophers (although falsely so called) who are “willingly ignorant that God in the beginning made the heavens and the earth, and without him was not anything made that was made.” The dismal infidelity of such so-called learned men of science is one of the signs of the last days, in fulfillment of the scoffers predicted by Peter. Another—the author of a well-known work—in giving an account of the world, how it came into existence, writes as follows: “The air was black, night eternal illumined only by lightning or volcanoes, the earth unconscious of the sun's existence. But the crust thickens, the atmosphere brightens, and the sun's rays penetrated to the earth.” And thus he accounts for the origin of our globe.
And, as regards mankind, he says these strange words: “The ancestors of man were dots of animated jelly.” He stigmatizes prayer as folly, and calls belief in the resurrection a “sweet, fallacious hope of a barbarous and poetic age—illusions still cherished for mankind while yet in its romantic youth.” But he adds—and these are words that probably find their desponding echo in the heart of every infidel—“How sweet it would be to believe it; the shortness of life would comfort us, and we should welcome death. But we do not believe it, and so we cling to our tortured lives, dreading the dark nothingness, and dreading the dispersal of our elements into ever unconscious space.” Oh! how different from St. Paul's joyful assurance, “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens;” and, “If in this life only, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” The great and good Wilberforce is stigmatized, by the same skeptical writer, as having become the prey of a morbid superstition, when he experienced and openly professed evangelical faith in Christ and conversion of heart.
But these very philosophers of the world, who skeptically reject the history and prophecies of the Bible, foolishly make themselves prophets of things to come, which are nowhere revealed except in their own imaginations. One of them, in his philosophical treatise, speaks thus magniloquently of the future: “We are going to have great inventions in the future—motive force to take the place of steam; aerial locomotion to transport labor at a trifling cost to any part of the world; the manufacture of meat from the elements by a chemical process. Food will then be cheap, and our enlightened posterity will look back upon us just as we look back upon savages. Poetry and fine arts will take the place of religion. Science will transform our bodies into something wonderful. Disease being extirpated, the secret of immortality will be discovered. Man will be perfect, but even then no nearer to the First Cause, the inscrutable mystery, God.” Here we have the dreams of a scientific, or deistical, skeptic, who would shut Christ out of the world which he created, and reach an imaginary state of perfection by human discoveries and inventions. But, in opposition to such dreams, we know that nothing but the personal advent of Christ will bring the earth to the state of millennial perfection and Edenic bliss, to which, as paradise restored, it is destined to attain.
As the end draws nigh, we must expect wickedness to become aggravated. Just as in the disease of consumption, in proportion as the victim approaches the grave, the body becomes more and more the seat of the disease, until, at last, it sinks a prey to the fell destroyer; so we may expect that, as time advances, the various forms of iniquity and developments of evil will appear in an intensified and aggravated degree. The history of the antediluvian world will repeat itself in these last days. “As it was in the days of Noah, even so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.” St. Paul says there will be in the last days some “having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” These are the modern Pharisees and superstitious formalists, who equally with the skeptical Sadducees flourish like a green bay tree in these latter times. They may be seen on Sunday mornings at fashionable churches, acknowledging, in the general confession, that they are miserable sinners, and have gone astray like lost sheep; and in the afternoon promenading at the Zoo, arrayed in purple and fine linen, with every outward adornment of wealth and luxury; and on week days attending performances at the theater or opera, or dancing polkas and waltzes in brilliant ballrooms.
We find Romanism and ritualism putting forth their seductive attractions to deceive, if possible, the very elect; and society for most part becoming more and more worldly, with superabounding luxury, and extravagance, and lavish display, colossal fortunes, and idolatry of life. These, with other things too numerous to particularize, strangely coincide with St. Paul's prediction: “In the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, incontinent,” etc., “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5. We are, in fact, treading upon the borders of the final crisis of this dispensation. We have much reason to believe that the six thousand years from the creation of man are very near their termination, and that we are on the eve of the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to establish the glorious fifth monarchy predicted by the prophets. Dan. 7:9–14.
Trim the Lesser Lights.
By C. E. Babb
It is not enough to teach our children Scripture and catechism, and hymns, and prayers: we must live before them the Christ; we must shine before them as light reflecting the purity and beauty and power of the gospel. In vain do we point to the sun and moon and stars, or to the truths as high and as radiant, if we do not show them in our works or deeds what true religion is.
Cleveland harbor has two set of lights: those on the high bluff to show the mariner the general direction, and others down near the water line to guide him amid the rocks that the upper lights are too high to reveal minutely. A vessel was coming into this harbor on a dark stormy night. The beacon on the bluff showed how to enter. But when it came inside the lower lights were not shining. The pilot said to the captain, "What shall we do? We cannot anchor here; we cannot turn and go out again in the lake, for the storm is too violent, and the night is too dark, yet it is impossible to find the channel to guide our vessel between the sunken rocks without those shore lights. He said, "We must try to steer as well as we can by the beacon on the bluff. It is a great risk, but it is our only hope."
The pilot kept his eye on the beacon. He guided the storm-tossed bark by it as well as he could. But soon, in spite of his care and all the help that upper light could give, he struck upon a rock, and the ship was wrecked.
So with many a youth who goes forth from our so-called Christian homes. He has been well instructed. He knows his catechism. He has heard the eloquent expositions of the plan of salvation. Intellectually he is orthodox. But his heart is not renewed. Why? He has not felt the magnetism of living piety in the nursery and at the fireside. The spirit prevailing the home circle has been worldly. The conversation there has not been about Christ, the riches of his grace and the hope through him, that is full of glory; but about making money, keeping in good society, enjoying the things that are seen and temporal.
Thus the lower lights of holy influence and example being dim, the youth drifts away among the breakers and makes shipwreck of his soul. A great urgent need of our day is "piety at home"—not a long-faced, sanctimoniousness, but a cheerful, living, joyous newness of life in Jesus Christ. This has never failed to charm young hearts and to win them to walk in the ways of pleasantness and paths of peace.
Trim the lower lights; let your children see that with you religion is the first and highest object, and that it makes you happy. Show them by your example that it is the "good part," and they will choose it.—Rev. C. E. Babb.
Clean Money.
By The Armory
As a godly merchant lay upon his dying bed, he spoke to his children of the little property which he had acquired and was leaving behind him. "It is not much, but there is not a dirty shilling in it."
There is such a thing as clean money. It may be earned by diligence in business, by honest labor of hand or mind, or by the severest occupations which are not esteemed as either easy or genteel; but there is money, even in the purses and coffers of many who profess to be followers of Christ, which all the waters of Jordan could not make clean. There are the wages of unrighteousness, the gains of ungodliness, the hard spoils wrung from the thin hands of the poor and needy; there are revenues from the traffic in strong drink; there are rents paid to church members for places that are used as traps and pitfalls to ensnare unwary men; there are gains acquired in a thousand ways that are blackened with the stain of sin and the curse of God. Thousands on thousands have thus laid up wealth which shall curse them in life and death; which shall ensnare their children and beguile them to their ruin; and which shall finally eat their flesh as it were fire, when the Judge who standeth before the door shall come to make inquisition for blood, and to punish the ungodly in the last great day.
O man of earth, as you look upon your gains and treasures, as you count your hoards and estimate your possessions, ask yourself the question, Is this clean money? and decide that as God shall give you grace and help, nothing which you possess shall deserve the curse that follows the wages of unrighteousness, the gains of those who know not and fear not God.—The Armory.
The Dime Novel Nuisance.
By Editor
A NEW YORK correspondent of an exchange makes the following statement concerning the "Dime Novel" nuisance. It is alarming. We publish it to call the attention of parents and guardians to the necessity of scrupulous care and diligence as to books read by children under their care. It is impossible to estimate the injury done to heart, mind, and conscience, by the sort of intellectual food here described. It unfits the mind for all serious and persistent study, perverts the taste, feeds an unholy pruriency, inflames the passions, enervates the moral sentiments, and wrecks all manliness. Be on your guard:—
"I have been told by a prominent job printer that half his presses are running on this kind of work. While literature, generally, is dull, this style maintains its full rate of sale. It is evident that such reading must weaken and degrade the mind prodigiously, and indeed it is found that lovers of dime novels can read little else. By the same rule that strong drink evidently weakens the body, tales so exciting weaken the intellect. A gentleman of fine literary taste remarked that the youthful mind of the country is threatened with idiocy. 'Had I,' said he, 'been fed on such trash while young, I should have been imbecile.' The effect of early reading for good or evil is beyond estimate. I know a man who, while a boy, was in a place where almost the only reading book he could get—next to the Bible—was Addison's Spectator. He read this many times and became imbued with its style and sentiments, which gave him an abiding culture and elevation. Suppose instead of this he had read 'Lantern-face Bob,' 'Small-Pox Dave,' 'Fighting Nat,' 'Clumsy Foot,' or 'Long-legged Joe.' These names I have taken from the publisher's list, and they challenge admiration. The latter is making money, but it is at the expense of the mental vigor of the public. The sale of these tales never was greater than at present, and recently a flaming handbill has been sent to every postmaster, to attract attention."
My Own Vineyard.
By Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage
THE church says in Canticles, "They have made me the keeper of vineyards, but my own vineyard have I not kept." So there are a great many Christians now who spend their chief time in looking after others, while their own vineyard goes to waste. They are raising very fine grapes on the other side of the fence, but the property does not belong to them, nor do the grapes. I know Christians who are lean as skeletons in religious experience, who are running hither and thither looking after Sunday-schools, calling conventions, attending meetings. They are in everlasting anxiety about other people, but have no thought about themselves. They cut the wool off somebody else's sheep, and spin it on somebody else's wheel, and weave it in somebody else's loom for somebody else's back. Meanwhile their own souls are shivering to death.
So there are women busy in collecting money for benevolent institutions, and managing public affairs, while their own children go with faces unwashed, and minds uneducated, and souls unsaved. Busy everywhere but in their own vineyard.
Now the first thing for one to do is to take care of his own heart. How was it that the old saints, with less opportunity than we have, were better men? They took more time for contemplation. Christians now seldom sit down to think. It is drive, and push, and pull. Their only quiet time is when they are on an express train going at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour, watch in hand, wondering why they don't go forty. Just before communion they feel called upon for especial self-examination, and so take the ten minutes in which they are walking to church to think what miserable offenders they have been. Now you have no right to give so much time to your neighbors' crops that you let your own suffer. Besides, if our own piety be thin, our works will be inefficient. If we have been much with Christ, and have deep personal experiences, we will do more good in one month than with a shallow experience we could do in ten years. One-half the Christian effort of to-day is mere talk. The world sees straight through it. While some man who says but little, yet feels much, gets hold of the heart of an audience, and rouses, and melts, and subdues, and agonizes it at will.—Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage.
What Free Thought Leads To.
An illustration of the inevitable tendencies of free thought, when faith in plenary inspiration is lost, was given in the recent session of the Unitarian Ministers' Institute at Princeton, in this State. Prof. Toy, formerly of the Southern Baptist Seminary at Louisville, but now of Harvard, gave a dissertation on Ezekiel in which he endorsed, without qualification, the most destructive criticism on the Old Testament by German scholars who deny all supernatural elements in revelation. He asserted dogmatically, as if the case no longer admitted of honest doubt, that Ezekiel originated the sacerdotal element in Judaism, and introduced into its sacred books, from the Babylonian records, the story of Eden and the Flood. The theology founded on the supposed Mosaic teachings of the creation and fall, and on which Paul builds so cogent an argument in his great Epistle to the Romans, Prof. Toy declared to be "simply a beautiful series of legends borrowed from ancient Babylon."
As a curious corollary to this theory spun from ingenious brains, Prof. Toy added that Ezekiel was "a great ethical teacher, who felt an individual responsibility for the religious conduct of his nation." One must have singular ideas of ethics, and more singular qualifications for a teacher, who can borrow legends from a Pagan mythology, and invent a sacerdotal system, and deliberately insert these into the Jewish sacred books, forging for them the name and authority of Moses the great lawgiver of Israel. The Independent, and a few Baptist ministers at the South, think that an outrage on religious freedom was committed, when Prof. Toy was forced to resign his Chair at the Louisville Seminary! What is the value of a Chair for "Old Testament Interpretation" when no "Old Testament" is left to need interpretation?—Sel.
A Lesson from a Pump.
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I WAS in Cologne on a very rainy day, and I was looking out for similes and metaphors, as I generally am, but I had nothing on earth to look at in the square of the city but an old pump, and what kind of a simile I could make out of it I could not tell. All traffic seemed suspended, it rained so hard; but I noticed a woman come to the pump with a bucket. Presently I noticed a man come with a bucket, nay, he came with a yoke and two buckets. As I kept on writing and looking out every now and then, I saw the same friend with the buckets and the blue blouse coming to the same pump again. In the course of the morning I think I saw him a dozen times. I thought to myself, "Ah! you do not fetch water for your own house, I am persuaded; you are a water-carrier; you fetch water for lots of people, and that is why you come oftener than anybody else." Now there was a meaning in that at once to my soul, that inasmuch as I had to go to Christ not only for myself, but had been made a water-carrier to carry the water of everlasting life to others, I must come a great deal oftener than anybody else. I am sure it is so. You cannot labor in your Sabbath-school class, dear friends, you cannot take that village station, you cannot act as a deacon in the church so as to glorify God, especially you cannot come fresh to a congregation from Sabbath to Sabbath, year after year, always with something sparkling and fresh, and cheering and refreshing, unless you are constantly going to the Great Source yourself. In proportion as there is a draw upon you, take care that you keep up the supplies.—C. H. Spurgeon.
An Impulse of Hoodlumism.
It turns out that the murderous attack recently made upon Chinese gardeners at Los Angeles, was the work of two young men and two girls, who had been out together on "a tear;" and apparently had committed the slaughter of the Chinamen from an impulse of ruffianism such as frequently assails the California hoodlum, both male and female. It is stated that all the criminals are "respectably connected," and this statement suggests reflection as to the character of that alleged respectability which permits boys and girls to prowl around town at all hours of the night, obeying their own vicious inclinations, and rendering respect neither to parents, friends, or common decency. When boys and girls come to ruin by means of such laxity of home training, the real guilt rests upon their fathers and mothers. We do not believe in the possibility of hoodlumism which is not attributable to parental negligence and remissness. When fathers and mothers lament their inability to control their children, they are really making confession of their own neglect of duty in the past. Too many parents, however, have no other idea of training children than letting them have their own way in everything, and as a result they bring them up to be selfish, insolent, lazy, vicious little wretches, who are as certain to go wrong when they are old enough for ruin, as sparks are to fly upwards. Home training of a sterner and more enlightened character is what is needed to put a stop to the kind of hoodlumism which issues in such deeds as that at Los Angeles, and which fills our Magdalen Asylums, our Houses of Correction, our inebriate and Insane Asylums, and our Penitentiaries.—Record-Union.
Religion and Insanity
THE more recent writers on insanity frankly disavow the imputation found in some earlier works, that religion is to be considered one of its causes. Thus the editor of the American Journal of Insanity says, that he is "not able to recognize any reality in the term Religious Insanity. A man may take cold at a prayer-meeting, but the consumption which follows it is not to be called a religious consumption." Insanity is a disease of the physical organism, principally of the brain and nervous system; and a thousand causes may operate to produce it. To many temperaments extreme religious excitement would be mischievous; but so have been manias for invention or for speculation, and the passions of love, joy, hope, grief, remorse, despair, when overwrought and uncontrolled. The reason why religious fanaticisms have seemed conspicuous in connection with insanity is that interest in religious subjects is deeper and more universal among both sexes—not that the doctrines have any hurtful tendency. The general tendency of the faith and teaching common in America is beneficial and protective.—Intelligencer.
Loudness in Prayer
"One would think, from hearing the loud tones used by some in prayer, that the Lord was deaf. Their voices are pitched in the highest key, as if that denoted intense earnestness. The Lord hears the feeblest cry of his children, and it is unnecessary to speak in stentorian tones to have our requests heard. We are aware that it is quite apt to draw responses and amens from the listening worshipers, and that very few are heard when a brother or sister uses a natural tone of voice, but God hears, and the feelings of the heart, much more than loudness of utterance, determines the answer."